Plant Guide

Other Names:  Audrey Blue Shades, False Rock Cress

Group/Class:  Audrey Series

Description:

This compact spreader forms an evergreen carpet covered with bright purple/blue flowers in spring; makes a great addition to rock gardens and retaining walls, widely adaptable

Ornamental Features

Audrey Blue Rock Cress is smothered in stunning violet cup-shaped flowers with silvery blue overtones and yellow eyes at the ends of the stems from mid spring to early summer. Its small tomentose round leaves remain grayish green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Audrey Blue Rock Cress is a dense herbaceous evergreen perennial with a ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Audrey Blue Rock Cress is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Audrey Blue Rock Cress will grow to be only 6 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 14 inches. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Audrey Blue Rock Cress is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.